Girls aloud … Sarah Harding stopped by police for using phone while driving. Photograph: David Fisher/Rex Features

Girls Aloud's Sarah Harding has been arrested for talking on a mobile phone while driving in London. The singer was stopped after allegedly ignoring the police officer who tried to flag her down.

Police confirmed that the 31-year-old was pulled over on Thursday evening, while driving her 4X4 on Charing Cross Road in central London. She was taken to Holborn police station where she was charged with two offences and posted bail. Harding could be fined £1,000 for using her mobile in the car, while failing to stop for police carries a maximum penalty of £5,000. The star could also lose her driving licence.

"Apparently Sarah was very upset when she was arrested and charged," a source told the Sunday Mirror. "The offences are pretty serious."

On Twitter, Harding's only comment was rather less penitent: "As my idol Marilyn once said," she wrote, "'If I'd observed all the rules, I'd never had got anywhere.'"

Girls Aloud recently wrapped up their 10th anniversary reunion, announcing that they had "come to [an] end", after a 12-date UK tour. Since then, Nadine Coyle has revealed that she wanted to continue touring. "You should know by now I had no part in any of this split business," she tweeted. "I couldn't stop them. I had the best time & want to keep going."

Speaking to Look magazine, Harding said she was "unaware" Coyle felt that way. "At no point did she try and stop us," Harding insisted, "so you'd have to ask [Nadine] why she [said] that."

With the end of the 21st century's bestselling British girl group, Girls Aloud's members are now heading their separate ways. "I think we'll all be successful in what we do – we're all ambitious," Harding recently told Metro. "Nadine's moving back to LA, Nicola [Roberts] is very business-minded with her fashion and beauty range. Kimberley [Walsh] deserves to take a holiday – she's a workaholic! And Cheryl [Cole] is moving back to LA." As for Harding: she will appear at Highbury Corner magistrates court on 16 April.